Hemming attachment for sewing-machines.



0. 1. ENSlGN.

HEMMING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 7, I916- 1,216,298e Patented Feb. 20, 1917.

DANIEL JAY ENSIGN, OF NORTH ADAMS, MASSACHUSETTS.

HEIVIMING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

retell-tea rep. an, alert.

Application filed February 7, 1916. Serial No. YB/ 794.

-; and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Hemming Attachments for Sewing Machines, of which thefollowing is a specification, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings.

This invention relates to an improved hemming attachment for sewingmachines, and

has for its primary object to provide a device of this character whichmay be readily attached to or removed from the machine whereby hems ofvarious widths may be turned in the material and stitched as the.

material is drawn under the presser foot.

The invention has for an additional object to provide a device for theabove purpose embodying a slotted gage plate provided with means forattaching the same to the presser foot standard, a hem turner slidablyand adjustably mounted upon the gage plate and over which the materialis drawn.

It is another object of the invention to provide a simple and effectivedevice for turning wide hems in the material, said device beingapplicable to the ordinary sewing machine without necessitating anyalterations whatever therein. a

With the above and other objects in view, my invention consists in thenovel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts tobe hereinafter more fully described, claimed and illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, in which,

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing my improved hemming attachmentapplied to a sewing machine;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal section through the device;

Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of the adjustable hem turning plate.

Referring in detailto the drawing, 5 indicates the needle bar of asewing machine, 6 the presser foot bar arranged contiguous thereto, and7 the preSSer foot suitably at tached to the lower end of the latterbar. These bars are of any ordinary or approved construction, thepresent invention being applicable to various types of sewing machinesnow in common use.

My improved hemming attachment i11- cludes a gage plate 8, the medialportion of which is provided with parallel longitudinally extendingslots 9. Beyond the slot at one end of the plate, one of thelongitudinal edges thereof extends obliquely inwardly, as at 10, andfrom this narrowed section of the body plate a relatively wide wing 11extends,

and this wing is bent at its juncture with the end of the body plateinwardly and under the end portion of the plate to lie in spacedparallel relation thereto, At the juncture of the wing 11 with theobliquely inclined edge 10 of the gage plate, a notch or recess,indicated at 12, is cut in said wing. The gage plate is disposed inadvance of the presser foot 7 and the vertically reciprocating needle,indicated at N, is in line with the notch 12. The raw edge of thematerial is turned under and drawn through this notch, said turned edgebeing stitched to the body of the material. One end of the wing 11 whichextends in substantially parallel relation to the oblique edge 10 of thebody plate, is upwardly and inwardly bent upon itself, as shown at 13,and over the same the edge of the material is drawn.

The other end of the plate 8. has an angularly disposed transverseflange 14: formed thereon which is adapted to rest upon the bed or tableof the machine.

16 designates the hem turning plate which is preferably of the formshown in Fig. 3 and is bent upwardly at one end, as at 17, and providedwith an inwardly extending terminal portion 18 disposed in parallelrelation to the body of the plate. Spaced screws 19 are fixed at one oftheir ends in this terminal portion 18 of the plate and project upwardlythrough the respective slots 9 in the gage plate. Clamping nuts,indicated at 20, are threaded upon the ends of these screws, whereby thehem turning platemay be securelyclamped in its adjusted positionwithrespect to the gage plate. The latter plate is graduated, as at 21,011 its opposite longitudinal edges along the slots 9 in said plate.

To one longitudinal edge of the plate 8, at the end thereof which isprovided with the inwardly projecting wing 11, the end of a bar 22 isriveted or otherwise securely fixed. This bar is formed of relativelyheavy metal and projects laterally from the edge of the plate and isthen extended upwardly at right angles to the plane of the plate 8. ()nthe upper end of this bar, a horizontally projecting arm 23 is formedwhich is provided with a central bend or seat 24 for engagement upon oneside of the presser foot rod or bar 6. Screws are fixed at one of theirends in this arm 23 and a clamping plate 26 is adapted to be engagedupon the opposite sideof the rod 6 and is provided with openings in itsends to receive the screws 25. Suitable clamping nuts are threaded uponthe ends of these screws, whereby the device may be securely clamped inconnection with the rod 6 or readily adjusted thereon.

In the operation of the device, the same is applied to the presser footrod of a sewing machine, as shown in Fig. 1, and the edge of thematerial is inserted between the plate 16 and the gage plate 8. Thisplate 7 16 has, of course, been previously adjusted so as to positionthe flange l7 thereon in accordance with the selected graduations on thescales 21 which determines the desired width of the hem. The edge of thematerial is then turned over and extended outwardly over the wing 11 andthe inturned flange 13 thereon. The turn or bend in the material isengaged against the vertical flange 17 of the plate 16. As above stated,when the material is drawn over the curved edge 13 of the wing 11 andunder the plate 8, the raw edge of the material engaging the bend in theplate at the juncture of the wing therewith, is turned under as it movesthrough the notch 12 and subsequently stitched to the underlying bodyportion of the material. The material will be continuously andautomatically turned to form the hem as it is drawn between the plates 8and 16. Thus, by simply loosening the clamping nuts 20 and properlyadjusting the plate 16 with respect to the gage plate 8, a hem of anydesired width may be turned on the edge of the material.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing, the construction, manner of use and severaladvantages of my invention will be clearly and fully understood. Theattachment may be very easily and quickly applied to the sewing machineor removed therefrom, and provides simple and reliable means foraccurately turning a wide hem in the edge of the material. Theadjustment of the hem.

turning plate can also be very reading effected. The device, as a whole,comprises very few parts which are all of exceedingly simple form and itis, therefore, apparent that the attachment can be manufactured atrelatively small cost. The device is designed for use upon various typesof sewing machines without necessitating any changes or alterations inthe construction thereof.

While I have shown and described the preferred construction andarrangement of the several elements, it is to be understood that thedevice is susceptible of considerable modification therein and I,therefore, reserve the privilege of adopting all such legitimate changesas may be fairly embodied within the spirit and scope of the inventionas claimed.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I desire to claim andsecure by Letters Patent is A hem turning attachment for sewing machinesincluding a relatively fixed. graduated gage plate provided with anangular flange on one end to rest upon the bed of a machine, the otherend of the plate beingreversely bent and disposed in parallel relationto the body of the plate, said latter end of the plate and thecontiguous body portion of the plate having their correspondinglongitudinal edges obliquely inclined and the returned end portion ofthe plate being provided with an upwardly and outwardly turned bead onits inclined edge, a hem turning plate disposed in spaced parallelrelation beneath the gage plate and provided upon one end with a flangeagainst which the edge of the material engages and by which the same isturned to form the hem, and adjustable means on the flange of the hemturning plate to co-act with said gage plate and clamp said flangeagainst the under side thereof.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

DANIEL JAY ENSIGN.

Witnesses:

HARRY R. MGTNTOSH, E. M. ENsIGN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

